Fire and Ice
by percychased
Summary: "If you expect nothing from anybody, you're never disappointed." A collection of non-linear Rose/Scorpius oneshots and drabbles.
1. After the Darkness

_After the Darkness_

* * *

They always met in the darkness.

(It was how they began, and how they ended.)

It was the night, when the stars were blanketed by the heavy grey clouds that were like wool in the sky. She liked them; the sky understood her. She was clouded too, oh, was she ever. He was the stars struggling to break through, a muffled light.

(He always wanted to go public. She didn't.)

They were different, in essence. She was the night time, all quiet mystery and small smiles and gentle touches. He was the day, the bright, happy, outgoing day, with a grin as bright as the sun. They were, however, both blinding - she in the cover of darkness, and he in the sunshine of the day.

(Opposites attract, he always argued, to no avail.)

Her name was a flower - Rose, the symbol of love and passion. Her hair matched her name, a fiery red colour that touched her mid-back. She was a symbol, of two people who had been through a lot and loved each other very much. He was a constellation, Scorpius. The scorpion; a creature, while small, that was able to bite your ankles off, quite literally.

(Or, she was the fire and he was the water - a cliché, thank you very much, but clichés were made for a reason, were they not?)

They kissed and they kissed and she felt something break inside of her - a dam, a wall, something collapsing brick by brick, and the rubble was in his hands, balanced carefully, and he was going to trip and drop it, she knew it, did she ever.

(He always had a good grip on her.)

He could feel her tears, sometimes, and he didn't know why. She looked happy, she said she was happy, so why was she so sad? They had talked that night, talked like they'd never met before. Rose had told him her fears and her worries, and him. How he scared her.

(She said she was falling too fast. Couldn't think, feel, live right.)

Scorpius said that was okay; he was, too, and they would be okay. They would free-fall together, forever and ever and ever.

("What if we reach the bottom?" she asked, nothing but a fearful whisper.)

He sighed and brought her closer to him. "Well," he said, his breath skittering across the bare skin of her neck, "I'll guess I'll just have to shield you from the fall."

(Rose had laughed, and he had never heard a more beautiful sound.)

She was close, she could feel it. To saying yes, to them. Well, there was a them, already - they were together, only in darkness, only when she allowed it. But her resolve was weakening, she could feel it, could she ever, and she was so, so close to saying yes.

(What she was saying yes to? She didn't know.)

When she entwined their hands together that day after Transfiguaration, Scorpius had looked down and smiled. He knew that was her way of saying yes.

* * *

_word count: 509. Review, yeah?_


	2. Freckles

_Freckles_

* * *

The first time Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy met Rose Jean Weasley, he sneered at her and called her freckles.

Rose didn't mind too much; she'd always been proud of her freckles, of her hair, of her last name and of her family. She was a proud girl.

The second time Rose Jean Weasley met Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, she laughed at him out of the corner of her mouth, and called him a rat.

Well, he was. He was bothering her cousin! There wasn't anything 'wrong' with Roxanne's dark hair and bright eyes. If anything, it made her cousin more unique.

The third time Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy met Rose Jean Weasley, they didn't say a word.

She was running late to class - she'd later get points taken off for it - and she was trying to run past him, and oblivious, she ran straight in to him. He didn't offer to help her, but he didn't make any comments, and before long, she was back at Transfiguration.

Of course, they met many, many times during their Hogwarts careers; some friendly, some not so friendly. Of course, it's usually the first and last ones (and sometimes a few meetings in the middle) that matter the most.

Rose Jean Weasley was Head Girl, and Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was Head Boy. It was something to be expected - while he didn't have high grades like she did, he was smart, quick, clever, cunning. She had the humour of her father and the head of her mother, and so it was destined to be.

(Later on, a long time after Hogwarts and those silly little things, Ginny would say it was meant to be, wasn't it? Lily and James Potter were Head Girl and Head Boy together, and look how that had turned out!)

Rose was career-driven; right out of Hogwarts, she began training as a Healer and with her warm, vibrant air and skills, she rose quickly though the ranks. Those years immediately after Hogwarts they met twice; once, when his ailing grandmother was in St. Mungos, and two, when he had a funny accident with a malfuctioning wand. They were civil, if not polite to each other, and the air was slightly awkward. After all, they'd never been all that close in Hogwarts, so why start now?

About ten years after their first initial meeting, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy asked Rose Jean Weasley to dinner. It was an accident, actually - he'd meant to ask another girl, standing right next to her, but Rose had shrugged and said yes, skipping off before he could say anything else. Bugger.

They met that night, of course, and wasn't he ever surprised?

They met, about fifteen years after the sneer and the freckles, at the end of an aisle, with her father walking her down and her mother smiling softly in the front row, the right-hand side of the Muggle church she'd insisted on splattered with redheads and Potters alike.

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy and Rose Jean Weasley, two years after that, met another little redheaded girl for the first time.

(This time, of course, Malfoy doesn't call her freckles. He calls her beautiful, as beautiful as her mother.)

* * *

_a/n - Not in the same universe as the previous one, but hopefully still enjoyable. Word count: 531. Reviews make my day :)_


	3. Journey's End

_Journey's End_

* * *

1.

Teddy Lupin is the first. She is young, silly, a little girl caught in a world of fantasies.

But when he looks her way, she can't help it. She feels the butterflies and the longing and all of those feelings in her stomach. They make her feel so young and so foolish, but she can't help them. He was always nice to her; helping her with her sums, or her reading and writing. He is smart, he is patient, he is kind.  
But he is old, too, and she remembers thinking that she can't have everything. His girlfriend is tall and blonde and beautiful and is she ever smart (Rose is just so_ inadequate_), not to mention she's her cousin.

It is a silly crush, and soon when there's other boys who seem patient and kind and loving, she pushes Teddy Lupin to the back. He threatens to bubble up sometimes, but she doesn't let it happen.

(She's a bridesmaid at his wedding, and by then, she's truly happy for him.)

2.

The second one is Scorpius Malfoy.

Rose and Scorpius. They were everything that was unexpected; maybe she should have seen it coming, from that little comment her father made on the platform. He asks her out to Hogsmeade one snowy day in her fourth year, and it's sixth year before she says anything to her parents. By then, she's sure she loves him; she is young and foolish, still, but there's a pain in her heart when she thinks about not being with him.

He is kind and patient and loving, just like the first one, but she also knows he's tired, he's cunning, he's quick and he's clever. She is not sure which one outweighs the other, so Rose loves him for both.

They are always together, though, from that first awkward date over hot chocolate to NEWT studying years later in the library. It's only fitting, she thinks, that they stay together out of Hogwarts.

(He has to make his own pathway, he says. Can't let anyone dictate his life for him.)

3.

Lysander Scamander is the third.

He is quiet, soft, the opposite of her last boyfriend, and she can't help but compare him to a butterfly. Simple, beautiful, easy. He doesn't crave the adventure that she does; he even admits it himself, he's almost painfully domestic, to the point of wanting a white-picket fence home, three children, and a dog.

It's not that she doesn't want to get married; some day, yes, when she is so sure she doesn't want to wait a moment longer. But the first time he brings up marriage, she's only nineteen. Done nothing with her life yet. She hasn't lived at all.

(Three years later, she sees him in Diagon Alley with his wife and baby boy. She's happy he got what he wanted, what she couldn't give.)

4.

Perhaps Scorpius would be the last.

They meet again, not as children but as adults, at the age of twenty-three. Rose has just gotten back from Japan with Dominique, and Scorpius had been up in Scotland for the past few years.

It's a wintry night, once more, when he asks her for a cup of tea, maybe. She nods, and he smiles. They don't forget their history together, those years - but now, almost six years later, it seems hazy and far away. Perhaps they've lived enough of their own lives to combine again.

Maybe Scorpius Malfoy is her second, her fourth, and perhaps in time, her always.

* * *

_a/n - A different idea. How is it? WC: 586_


	4. Baby

_Baby_

* * *

The baby was crying again.

Rose groaned and shifted; it was the third time this night. They'd gotten less than three hours of sleep at a time before their daughter began to crying again.

She was just about to step out and go check on their daughter when a warm hand stopped her movement, tucking her back in to the blanket.

"I'll go do it," Scorpius whispered, and Rose gave him a sleepy, tired smile.

Her husband smiled down at her, kissing her forehead and departing. Moments later, she heard the creaking of floorboards. The crying turned into low whimpers of discomfort, which disappeared altogether.

A warm, fuzzy tired feeling overcoming her, Rose rolled over and closed her eyes.

* * *

_a/n - wc. 119._


	5. Rings

_Rings_

* * *

"I'm sure she'll love it, mate."

"No," said Scorpius icily. "No. It needs to be perfect."

Anthony Zabini cursed underneath his breath and glared at his friend. "Well, _perfect,_ you'd better find one in twenty minutes. That's when we have to meet her at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Okay," grumbled Scorpius, examining a ring closely.

"Have you found one, Mister Malfoy?" the shopkeeper asked. Scorpius shook his head.

"Too gaudy, too old, too small," he murmured as he passed by the displays.

"We better get going, mate, we're going to be late." Scorpius hadn't realized how much time had passed until he looked at his watch and Anthony pulled him out of the jewellers.

That was fine. He'd go back tomorrow, just as he had done for the last two weeks.

* * *

a/n - In the mood for fluff. Word count: 130.


	6. Pattern

It's a pattern.

He would get home from work just as the sky was turning dark and dinner would be cold, sitting on the counter. She would poke her wand at him, saying _"It's about time you got back,"_ and he would be able to _see _the accusations in her eyes.

He would finish, push the plate away from himself, and stand up. They started with the same topic every time; _where have you been? Why were you _working _so late? Who are you seeing, behind my back?_

She's convinced he is – she's never had much self-confidence, living in the shadow of hero parents. He isn't, he really isn't, and he tells her that, every time.

A little girl of about four would peek out from her room, and they would both go silent. His wife would turn around and say _go back to bed, darling, don't worry _and over the sniffling and crying of a little girl, they'd bounce accusations back and forth.

But they would get tired eventually, and sooner or later they end up on different sides of the bed, facing away from each other.

They would wake up the next day and start all over again.


	7. Glasses

_Glasses_

* * *

"I need them to see, Scorpius. It isn't funny."

"Of course it is!" Her boyfriend protested, while laughing. He pulled off her glasses and tried them on.

"Do I look like Trelawney, now, Rose?"

"Git," she snarled, swatting at him and narrowing her eyes. "I can't read without those." She plucked them off of his face and stuck them back on, glaring up at him with magnified eyes.

Scorpius couldn't help it – he laughed, once more. "I'm sorry, love, but you look -"

"Like Trelawney, the old bat. Yes. And _you_, Scorpius Malfoy, look like a git."

Scorpius just grinned at his girlfriend. "Ah. Yes. But I'm your git, am I not?"

"I suppose so," Rose grumbled, a small smile coming to her face.

* * *

a/n - word count 124. Thank you for all of the reviews!


	8. One Less Problem

One Less Problem

* * *

The student body was in a frenzy to get on to the Hogwarts Express, but none more than Rose Weasley. She managed to squirm her way through the crowd with her shoulder-bag swinging and colliding with the students around her, and was one of the first to step onto the train, walking very quickly towards her intended destination. She opened the door and tossed her bag onto the seat next to her, putting her feet up and letting her head fall back with a sigh. She was here.

It was about thirty seconds before the train was to leave when the compartment doors opened once more and Scorpius Malfoy sat down across from Rose, putting his feet up so they were next to her.

"Your cousin's trunk fell on me when I was trying to put away mine," he said, rubbing his arm and grimacing slightly.

"Which one?"

"The one with red hair," he quipped.

"That's nearly all of them," Rose snapped, jabbing her foot into his side.

"It was Molly, I think, and I also think she did it on purpose," he said, eyebrows raised.

Rose exhaled deeply and quickly, as if the sudden mention of her cousins rudeness had flipped a switch on inside of her. It had been something of a sore spot for herself and Scorpius; since Christmas, which was when they had gotten together, her cousins has been particularly nasty to him. With the exception of Hugo, who didn't wish to get in his sister's way and cared quite a lot for her happiness, and Lily, who just didn't really seem to care all that much, all of her cousins at one point or another had contributed to the antagonizing of her boyfriend.

She counted herself lucky that he put up with all of that.

Honestly, she knew that their families hated each other in the past, and were barely civil now. But this was a new generation, and times were changing. Wasn't that what her parents had fought for? Blood purity was not important, not to him and certainly not to her. She was a legal wizarding adult; she was almost eighteen, and he already was!

As she was too busy thinking up a storm, she hadn't notice Scorpius get up and sit beside her. It wasn't till his arm was around her shoulders that she had been pulled from her thoughts.

"It's fine," he said lowly, and she rested her head on his shoulder and let her body relax. "Everything will work out. My mother likes you, which is a miracle really, considering she doesn't even like my father. Your mother is fine with me."

Rose shifted, nodding. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the blurred Scottish countryside, faded greens and browns in the awakening spring. "I know, I know. We've already talked about this. My dad will overreact, though…"

"And so will mine, but that's why we're going to do this right away. Better to get it done and over with, I say…" She had never been more grateful for his soft, calming voice, one that he could use to his advantage - he could convince anyone to do anything, speaking like that.

It was quiet for a few brief moments before a stomping shattered the silence, and the floor of their compartment seemed to shake.

Lily Potter had looked at them, looked behind her, and stormed in, slamming the compartment door and stomping her foot slightly and hissing under her breath, throwing in a few colourful curses. Rose caught _Zabini _and _loser_ among the angry, unintelligible muttering.

"What's he done now, Lils?" Rose sat up and shrugged Scorpius' arm from around her. Lily deposited herself in the seat across from them, flicking her eyes up to the ceiling.

"He was getting all close with Maggie Collins. And when I say close, I mean whispering in each other's ears and all that - right in front of me. I called his name _six times_ before he realized I was there, and even then he didn't notice me. I'm _his_ girlfriend!"

Rose frowned at her cousin. Why did she put up with all of this? Zabini wasn't a great bloke in the first place, but with every day they dated he seemed to become even more ignorant.

"I'm sorry to say this," said Scorpius, pausing to catch Lily's attention, "but maybe you just need to break up with him."

Rose nodded emphatically. "It's not right for him to be treating you like this, Lily…"

Still looking at the ceiling, she nodded defeatedly. "I… know. I guess you're right… it's been a long time coming. I'll be right back." Slowly, as if the life had drained out of her, she had gotten up and exited their compartment, quietly closing the compartment door and leaving Scorpius and Rose in the aftermath of her crisis.

"Zabini has always irritated me," Scorpius said, trivially, "and having shared a dorm with him for nearly seven years I know that bloke is a prat of the highest order."

Rose hmmed, but didn't respond with anything and leaned her shoulder against him once more while looking out of the window; the Hogwarts Express winded through what now must be the British countryside, out of view from all Muggles and in the middle of nowhere. Even though she was almost finished her seventh year, the magic of it never failed to astonish her.

It had probably been a quiet fifteen or twenty minutes of their breathing when Rose spoke again. "I was thinking…"

"Oh no."

"Ha, ha. I was thinking… that if Lily can go break up with Zabini after dealing with all of his idiocy for so long, then we can do this. We'll get off the train and then we'll snog for a bit to get our point across and then… well, we'll see, but…"

Scorpius nudged her shoulder. "Just as a proper, righteous Gryffindor should behave."

The Hogwarts Express ride seemed to go by much more quick - Rose and Scorpius made idle conversation about everything from Lily's impending breakup to Scorpius' father to their classes and the panic that NEWTs had thrust upon them. It had only seemed to be minutes later, rather than hours, when the Hogwarts Express slowed and entered King's Cross Station, platform 9 ¾.

As the train came to a screeching halt, they clutched each other's hands, both nervous for the outcomes of their action that needed to be done.

And when students descended off the train in a flurry of black robes they remained intertwined, even when Roxanne pushed past and Molly glared at him.

Their hands were still clasped when her parents noticed first, and then his, and that was when they knew it was time to show just how much they meant to one another.

Their lips met in the middle of Platform 9 ¾, slowly but surely, and nothing had ever been so perfect.

* * *

a/n - for the lovely Puddles Keeper, SailorOwls, whose favourite pairing is Scorrose or Dramione. I hope this is alright :)


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